Senior U.S.

Rwanda's government has commuted the 25-year sentence of Paul Rusesabagina, who inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda" for saving hundreds of countrymen from genocide but was convicted of terrorism offenses years later in a widely criticized trial.

Turkey's foreign minister and his U.S. counterpart spoke over the phone, Turkish diplomatic sources announced on Jan. 12.

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Mike Pompeo discussed the latest developments in Syria, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

President Trump has decided to end the CIA’s covert program to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels battling the government of Bashar al-Assad, a move long sought by Russia, according to U.S. officials.

Slabs of concrete wall have sprung up and military patrols have intensified, but local people say this stretch of Turkey's border facing Syrian territory under Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) control is still far from water-tight.

Senior U.S. officials have denied that the Obama administration is reviewing its Syria policy to include the ousting of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the program, reiterating that Iraq remains the current focus.

Senior U.S. officials say the Obama administration has begun directly providing weapons to Kurdish forces who have started to make gains against Islamic militants in Iraq.